Blue Moon

Grease is the best. It's a classic in the world of movie musicals. Everyone has seen it, or at least a scene or two, at some point in their life. But there's a lot more to this 1978 film based on a musical set in the 1950's than you thought. We all know that Jeff Conaway (RIP) played Danny Zuko on Broadway and John Tavolta was Doody, but did you know Elvis was offered a role?
1. Elvis was initially offered a role in the film.
elvis-and-his-pelvis.tumblr.com
It is believed he would play the Guardian Angel role, but he did not accept.
2. Grease is the highest-grossing film of 1978.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
Grease is the word.
3. In "Look at Me I'm Sandra Dee" they changed the reference and it has a freaky coincidence.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
In the stage play, the song had a reference to Sal Mineo, who was murdered in 1976. For the movie, they changed the lyric to "Elvis, Elvis, let me be! Keep that pelvis far from me!" In reference to Elvis Presley, who died the same day the scene was filmed. The day was August 16, 1977.
4. There is a little tribute to the Three Stooges in the film.
Paramount Pictures/maureensadoll.tumblr.com
The boys who played Doody (Barry Pearl), Sonny (Michael Tucci), and Putzie (Kelly Ward) all went to director Randal Kleiser with their idea and got it approved for the film during the bonfire scene.
5. All of the cast members were too old for high school.
GIPHY/Paramount Pictures
John Travolta was 23, Jeff Conaway was 26, and Stockard Channing was 33 (older than Dennis C. Stewart A.K.A. Crater face or Leo, Leader of the Scorpions, who was 30). The two closest to high school age were Lorenzo Lamas (Tom) and Dinah Manoff (Marty), they were both 19.
6. A "Hickey From Kenickie" was 100% real.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
Stockard Channing said in an interview that Jeff Conaway insisted on applying the hickeys himself.
7. "Hopelessly Devoted to You" was written after filming wrapped.
Paramount Pictures/mmoodring.tumblr.com
The producers felt that Olivia Newton-John needed a huge ballad for the film. This song actually ended up receiving an Academy Award nomination.
8. In the stage production, "Greased Lighting" is not sung by Danny.
Paramount Pictures
It's sung by Kenickie, but John Travolta convinced the producers to let him sing it.
9. Danny's blue wind-breaker was a nod to James Dean.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
Like his red wind-breaker from Rebel Without A Cause (1955).
10. Lucille Ball is the reason her daughter was not cast as Rizzo and the part went to Stockard Channing.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
Lucie Arnaz was dropped from consideration after Lucille Ball called and said "I used to own that studio; my daughter's not doing a screen test!" But actually, she owned the studio Desilu which was bought by Paramount.
11. Cast members got sick from filming the drag race scene.
Paramount Pictures
When filming near the bridge, the water there was stagnant and dangerous, causing some of the cast to become ill from it's filth.
12. That fight scene between Rizzo and Kenickie would have made sense but...
Paramount Pictures/bettyrizzos.tumblr.com
Paramount Pictures/bettyrizzos.tumblr.com
...the scene explaining it got cut. They filmed a scene, where the couple got into a heated argument, before the diner scene but it was pulled due to it's grittiness. It was compared to something Martin Scorsese might have directed.
13. The first time John Travolta met Olivia Newton-John was at her house.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
He was a huge fan of hers (he basically was the #1 supporter of her being Sandy) and was very star struck when he met her, having not reached a huge level of success yet.
14. During the filming of "Greased Lightning" Jeff Conaway injured his back.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
And the injury led to his abuse of prescription medication and downward path. He was dropped by fellow cast members during filming. This information was not publicly known until Conaway's appearance on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.
15. Olivia Newton-John's pants were so tight when filming "You're The One That I Want," that the zipper was broken.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
She had to be sewn into her pants every morning.
16. John Travolta had to talk Olivia into filming that song.
Paramount Pictures/cameronsfryes.tumblr.com
Paramount Pictures/cameronsfryes.tumblr.com
She admit on the Merv Griffin Show that she was terrified of it.
17. Jeff Conaway came up with the idea of how to blow off Danny and Kenickie's hug.
Paramount Pictures/tumblr.com
Conaway said that in 50's, two guys hugging, "forget about it!" So he suggested that after, they comb their hair and pretend it never happened.
18. The film takes place in 1958.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
20 years before the actual release date on June 1, 1978 (in the U.S.).
19. In the stage production of the show, Sandy's last name is Dumbrowski.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
But because Olivia Newton-John was cast, they changed her background to match her Australian one.
20. One song cut from the film is actually played in the background.
Paramount Pictures/GIPHY
The "Alma Mater/Parody" instrumental from the stage version of Grease can be heard in the office on the last day of school and during the carnival scenes.
21. It took a week to shoot the dance contest.
Paramount Pictures/tumblr.com
They were on location in a real school at the time in downtown L.A. Originally Sandy was not intended to dance in this scene, it was meant to be just Danny and Cha Cha. It was reputedly 116 degrees during filming. Several extras suffered heat-related illness.
22. But it took only one day to film "You're The One That I Want"/the end scene.
Paramount Pictures
It was filmed with a traveling carnival that was there only for the day. The next day, director Randal Kleiser wanted to film some extra close-ups, but the carnival had left, so they had to recreate pieces of that set to accomplish it.
23. Olivia Newton-John attended the premiere in a prom dress.
tumblr.com
And then for the after party, she changed into her "Sandy 2" look, which was hot pink spandex.
24. That plastic wrap moment in "Greased Lighting" is actually a reference to condoms.
Paramount Pictures/YouTube
Yup.
25. There was a planned sequel, by the title Summer School, completely different from Grease 2.
GIPHY
Paramount later nixed the idea and we sadly got Grease 2 in 1982. This orignal sequel plan grew out of Coach Calhoun's line "See you in summer school" to a student before he is hit with a pie in the carnival scene near the end.
Follow @hollywood_com Follow @analuisasrz
//

British singer Sam Smith has landed four nods in the first wave of Grammy Award nominations released on Friday (05Dec14). The pop newcomer is up for Record of the Year for his hit Stay With Me and will compete against Sia for her single Chandelier, Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX with Fancy, Taylor Swift for Shake It Off, and newcomer Meghan Trainor, who lands a nomination for her debut single All About That Bass. The single is also up for Best Pop Solo Performance.
Smith's album In The Lonely Hour will go head-to-head with Coldplay's disc Ghost Stories, Miley Cyrus' Bangerz, Ariana Grande's My Everything, Katy Perry's Prism, and Ed Sheeran's X for Best Pop Vocal Album.
The star's fourth nod comes from the Best New Artists category where he faces competition from Iggy Azalea, Bastille, Brandy Clark and Haim.
Dierks Bentley, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert landed nominations for Best Country Album, while Beyonce, Pharrell Williams and Chris Brown were recognised in the Best Urban Contemporary Album category.
The nominations will be released on social media throughout Friday, with the coveted Album of the Year nominees being named at A Very GRAMMY Christmas concert on Friday night.
The nominees so far are as follows:
Record of the Year:
Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX - Fancy
Sia - Chandelier
Sam Smith - Stay With Me (Darkchild Remix)
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass
Best Pop Vocal Album:
Coldplay - Ghost Stories
Miley Cyrus - Bangerz
Ariana Grande - My Everything
Katy Perry - Prism
Ed Sheeran - x
Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour
Best Country Album:
Dierks Bentley - Riser
Eric Church - The Outsiders
Brandy Clark - 12 Stories
Miranda Lambert - Platinum
Lee Ann Womack - The Way I'm Livin'
Best Urban Contemporary Album:
Jhene Aiko - Sail Out
Beyonce - Beyonce
Chris Brown - X
Mali Music - Mali Is...
Pharrell Williams - GIRL
Best Rock Song:
Jack White - Lazaretto
The Black Keys - Fever
Paramore - Ain't It Fun
Beck - Blue Moon
Ryan Adams - Gimme Something Good
Best Pop Solo Performance:
John Legend - All of Me
Sia - Chandelier
Sam Smith - Stay With Me
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Pharrell Williams - Happy
Best New Artist
Iggy Azalea
Bastille
Brandy Clark
Haim
Sam Smith

British rockers The Who have been honoured with a special blue plaque tribute in London to coincide with their 50th anniversary. The sign was unveiled on Sunday (16Nov14) at the Shepherd's Bush Club in the British capital, where founding members Roger Daltrey, Peter Townshend and John Entwistle once performed as a three-piece called The Detours in 1963.
They renamed the band The Who and recruited Keith Moon in 1964 and regularly played at the venue until the end of 1965.
The blue plaque reads, "Legendary Shepherd's Bush rock band The Who performed here at the site of the Goldhawk Social Club at the start of their career."
The rockers were unable to attend the unveiling ceremony because they are rehearsing for their 50th anniversary tour, which kicks off on 30 November (14). The group's manager Bill Curbishley attended in their place.
The blue plaques are placed by officials from The Heritage Foundation to mark significant historical sites across the U.K.

Pregnant singer Alicia Keys has added to her resume by becoming a children's book author.
Blue Moon from The Journals of Mama Mae &amp; LeeLee, which recently went on sale, is inspired by the No One hitmaker's 2012 interactive app for cell phones and tablets to educate and entertain children and her desire to showcase her relationship with her grandmother.
She tells U.S. breakfast show Live! with Kelly and Michael, "I'm so proud of this book, we actually started this idea, myself and my partner Jessica Walton, we all wanted to create something for children that really showed the diversity of who we are as people and introduce children to more interesting and different sounding (things like), 'What do native instruments sound like, what do instruments from India sound like and what do songs sound like...?' "It's really inspired by my life and my relationship with my grandmother... and really how that intergenerational relationship affects us... There's nothing like it..."

Rihanna was the toast of the inaugural iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday (01May14), despite arriving late and missing out on accepting the new prizegiving's first ever trophy.
The Umbrella singer found herself stuck in rush-hour traffic and wasn't even at the Shrine Auditorium when she won the night's Hip Hop/R&amp;B Song of the Year for Pour it Up. She arrived shortly afterwards and was present to pick up her awards for Best Fan Army, Artist of the Year and Song of the Year (Stay). Sporting a gothic look with blue lipstick, a black lace dress, jewelled crucifixes and a new Tank Girl-style hairdo, Rihanna accepted the latter trophy by thanking radio producers for playing the ballad, stating, "This record would never have been this big if it wasn't for you." And accepting her Artist of the Year honour at the end of the night, she added, "Shout out to everybody who has ever worked on my project. I know I'm a pain in the a** - but it's worth it!"
It was also a huge night for Pharrell Williams, who picked up the first-ever iHeartRadio Innovator Award. Presenter Gwen Stefani called her pal "the coolest guy ever", before a series of tributes from stars like Lady Gaga, Usher, Beyonce, Shakira, Oprah Winfrey, and Rita Ora flashed up on video screens. The man of the hour then performed a hits medley, including Blurred Lines, Get Lucky and Happy. Accepting his Innovator Award, the singer/songwriter/producer thanked his wife Helen Lasichanh and son Rocket and added, "I never dreamt in a million years that I'd be standing here as an artist... All I did was write the songs and you guys (fans) did all the heavy lifting, all the hard work, all those millions of views on YouTube... Thank you guys so much for lifting me so high."
Pitbull opened the show by performing Wild Wild Love and Timber without his duet partner Kesha, who has yet to perform for the first time following a stint in rehab earlier this year (14). The track won the couple the Best Collaboration trophy.
Performance highlights also included sets from Bastille, Ariana Grande, Shakira, Kendrick Lamar and 30 Seconds to Mars, who played City of Angels as frontman Jared Leto's accompanying short film featuring stars like Kanye West, Selena Gomez and Lindsay Lohan talking about their love of Los Angeles flashed up on video screens on either side of the stage.
But the night's talking point came when Usher showed off his Michael Jackson moves as he danced along to the King of Pop's new single Love Never Felt So Good, which debuted during the ceremony. As images of the late Thriller star appeared on video screens on the stage and throughout the audience, Usher and a gang of dancers performed the pop superstar's moon walk and other signature moves.
The iHeartRadio Music Awards telecast also featured a series of pre-taped anecdotes about L.A. from the likes of Chris Martin, John Legend, Steven Tyler, Adam Lambert, Lady Gaga, Rita Ora, Macklemore &amp; Ryan Lewis and Iggy Azalea. More than 60 million U.S. radio listeners voted for the awards.
The full list of prizewinners is: Hip Hop/R&amp;B Song of the Year - Pour it Up by Rihanna Best Collaboration - Timber by Pitbull &amp; Kesha Best Lyrics - Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus Best New Artist - Lorde Best Fan Army - Rihanna's Navy Song of the Year - Stay by Rihanna Alternative Rock Song of the Year - Demons by Imagine Dragons Young Influencer Award - Ariana Grande Instagram Award - Austin Mahone EDM (Electronic Dance Music) Song of the Year - Wake Me Up by Avicii &amp; Aloe Blacc Country Song of the Year - Boys 'Round Here by Blake Shelton Artist of the Year - Rihanna

Disney has proven itself more than capable of milking its properties for every bit of profit that they can. Since acquiring first Marvel and then LucasFilms, there has been a steady stream of buzz over a variety of spinoff projects centered on the various characters that were acquired… from Iron Man to Boba Fett.
Oddly, the Mouse has not done the same with one of its other properties, the Muppets. Sure, there have been some synergistic TV appearances by Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzy and the gang, and the feature film The Muppets did enough at the box office to spawn this spring's Muppets Most Wanted. But, as with Star Wars and Marvel comics, the Muppets have their own universe that could be mined for additional projects. These secondary felt performers have enough juice to take a turn at center stage.
The Great Gonzo
Some Muppets observers would argue that 1999's Muppets from Space was Gonzo's vehicle, since he was, after all, the Muppet from space. Be that as it may, if the Incredible Hulk can keep being revamped and re-launched, then so can Gonzo. The weird looking blue guy even has his own established posse with Rizzo the Rat and Camilla the Chicken ready to join in. Take Gonzo and his pals, drop them in some well-known destination like Paris or Las Vegas, and set them loose to wreak havoc. It practically writes itself.
Animal
Like all great drummers from Keith Moon on, Animal has always been on the restless side. Does anyone really think that the crazy guy manning the skins for Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem doesn't have a side project or two? We saw him hanging with Jack Black at an anger management retreat in The Muppets, so just borrow a page from the Judd Apatow/Jason Segel playbook and assign Jonah Hill or Michael Cera to get Animal to the big show at the Greek or wherever. Russell Brand will seem innocent -- and less hairy -- by comparison.
Swedish Chef
The fuzzy lipped Swede has always been a fan favorite and has even done commercial work on his own, like taking over cooking duties at the ESPN commissary in one of the network's "This is SportsCenter" promos. When a network tried to build a sitcom around superstar chef Emeril Lagasse, it was an epic fail, mostly because he wasn't funny and couldn't act. Swedish Chef doesn't have those same limitations. Install him in a sitcom where he's the new chef at a five-star restaurant in Manhattan, give him a strong ensemble, and voila! Or, you know, whatever the equivalent expression is in Swedish.
Beaker
Rowan Atkinson spent years starring in Mr. Bean projects without talking, so the precedent is already established for Beaker's brand of comedy. Get the inept lab assistant separated from his boss, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and have him be mistaken for a spy or international art thief or an astronaut. Even with just his "meep-meep," he can still save the day and get the girl.
Rowlf the Dog
How many people know that Rowlf was actually Jim Henson's first nationally known Muppet, appearing on The Jimmy Dean Show starting in 1963? Everyone just assumes that it was Kermit, who was still relegated to local TV at the time. In the grand tradition of Ray and Walk the Line, Rowlf really needs a biopic. From his early television success in the 1960s through his transition to ensemble player in the '70s and '80s to largely being forgotten now, his story could be the stuff of little gold statues.
Follow @Hollywood_com
Follow @LifeAsSitcom

Actress Soleil Moon Frye is a new mother after giving birth to a baby boy. The 37 year old welcomed her third child, a son weighing just over nine pounds (four kilograms), with husband Jason Goldberg on Monday (10Feb14).
Frye confirmed the news in a post on Twitter.com, writing, "Our amazing baby boy was born yesterday. We are so excited gor (for) the newest addition to our family. Thank you for the love!"
The couple is already parents to two daughters, Jagger Joseph Blue, and Poet Sienna Rose, eight.

Synopsis

Movie based on Luanne Rice's novel "Blue Moon." Cass and Billy Medieros and their three children have been happy living near Cass' family, the Keatings, in an old Eastern seaboard fishing village. Cass manages her father Jimmy's restaurant and Billy captains one of the Keating fishing boats. A rift has developed between Cass and Billy due to Billy's inability to deal with their hearing-impaired daughter Josie. Cass also suspects that her sister's wealthy new boyfriend wants to buy the restaurant to raze it and build up the wharf. Her stubborn resistance to change puts a strain on relations with friends and family. When Billy is nearly killed in an accident, the family is reminded of what is most important to them -- their love for one another.